Houston radio duo Dean and Rog are leaving 93.7 FM

Radio duo Dean and Rog are leaving 93.7 FM

By David Barron |
January 27, 2009

Mayor Bill White joins radio personalities Dean Myers (center) and Roger Beaty during a live broadcast from the Hard Rock Cafe in 2007.

Photo By RICHARD CARSON

Comic Frank Caliendo appeared on the Dean and Rog show in 2007.

Dean Myers and Roger Beaty, hosts of the Dean and Rog morning drive-time show on Clear Channel’s KKRW (93.7 FM), will move their show June 1 to Cox Radio’s KHTC (107.5 FM), Cox Radio announced Tuesday.

The impending move was announced after the duo’s Tuesday morning show on the Arrow. It was not immediately clear if the two will return to the air today or will sit out the remainder of their contract with Clear Channel before making the move to K-Hits.

Myers and Beaty remain under contract through the end of February, and they declined comment Tuesday through their agent, Eliot Ephraim.

The move signals a major financial commitment by Cox Radio in the midst of the current economic downturn, but Mark Krieschen, vice president and market manager of Cox’s four Houston stations, said the Dean and Rog show is a proven winner that he believes will pay off in listeners and revenue.

“This is a move that we’ve made for the future,” Krieschen said. “People are still looking for great entertainment and great content, and Dean and Rog will provide this for our audience. The key is local. We will have local talent on our radio stations.”

Scott Sparks, who currently hosts K-Hits’ morning drive show, will be moved to afternoon drive, Krieschen said. He said current afternoon drive host Kevin Charles will not be retained in the station’s lineup.

Eddie Martiny, market manager for Clear Channel Houston, was not immediately available for comment on whether Myers and Beaty will continue on 93.7 for the remainder of their contract. Options could include airing highlights shows or moving another Clear Channel show, perhaps the Walton and Johnson or Outlaw Dave shows on KPRC (950 AM), to morning drive on the Arrow.

According to Arbitron’s Houston ratings, the Dean and Rog show ranked eighth in morning drive in the December book with a 4 percent share among all listeners age 12 or older. They were sixth among adults 25-54, eighth among adults 18-49 and fifth in the men 18-49 and men 25-54 demographics. In November, they were tied for third among men 25-54.

K-Hits’ current morning show ranked 19th in persons 12-plus, 18th in adults 25-54, 21st in adults 18-49, 26th in men 18-49 and 14th in men 25-54.

The show also has provided a solid lead-in to the Arrow’s other dayparts. The station ranked third in middays and in afternoon drive among men 25-54 in the December Arbitrons.

“They will provide a great lead-in for us,” Krieschen said. “They have a great following, and we think listeners will come over here to enjoy our music and the entertainment of Dean and Rog.”

Dean and Rog are probably best known among local listeners for collaborating in 2004 with an auto dealer to give an orange and white Hummer to pitcher Roger Clemens in an effort to entice him to sign with the Astros.

On the air, their continuing bits include daily Birthday Scam calls, in which listeners can request practical joke calls to friends as a birthday surprise; the Dead Chick in the Envelope contest, in which listeners can win prizes by guessing the identity of a deceased celebrity; and assorted musical parodies by the Dean and Rog Singers.

In 2003, Suzi Hanks, the show’s news reader, underwent breast augmentation surgery in a procedure that was broadcast live in the station.

Myers and Beaty came to Houston 12 years ago following stints in Phoenix and a controversial tenure in Denver, where they were suspended after two of their associates played The Star Spangled Banner on a trumpet and bugle at a Denver mosque. The incident, in 1996, followed the refusal of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, a Muslim member of the Denver Nuggets basketball team, to stand during the anthem before games.

After the move to Houston, KKRW in 2000 issued an on-air apology to City Councilwoman Annise Parker regarding what she described as “anti-lesbian slurs” used during an editorial by one of the show’s producers.

More recently, the pair drew criticism on a radio industry chat board for commentary regarding the death of John Travolta’s and Kelly Preston’s son and the couple’s association with Scientology.